Overview

This book exposes a migration of business practices, players, and norms into philanthropy that strains the regulatory regime sustaining public trust in elite generosity through accountability and transparency and proposes legal reforms and private solutions to restore it.Practices, players, and norms native to the business sector have migrated into philanthropy, shattering longstanding barriers between commerce and charity. Philanthropies organized as limited liability companies, donor-advised funds sponsored by investment company giants, and strategic corporate philanthropy programs aligning charitable giving by multinationals with their business objectives paint a startling new picture of elite giving. In For-Profit Philanthropy, Dana Brakman Reiser and Steven A. Dean reveal that philanthropy law has long operated as strategic compromise, binding ordinary Americans and elites together in a common purpose. At its center stands the private foundation. The authors show how the foundation neatly combines donor autonomy with a regulatory framework to elevate the public's voice. This framework compels foundations to spend a small but meaningful portion of the assets their elite donors have pledged to the public each year. Prophylactic restrictions separate foundations from their funders' business and political interests. And foundations must disclose more about the sources and uses of their assets than any other business or charity. The philanthropic innovations increasingly espoused by America's most privileged individuals and powerful companies prioritize donor autonomy and privacy, casting aside the foundation and the tools it provides elites to demonstrate their good faith. By threatening to displace impactful charity with hollow virtue signaling, these actions also jeopardize the public's faith in the generosity of those at the top. Private ordering, targeted regulation, or a new strategic bargain could strike a modern balance, preserving the benefits of the compromise between the modest and the mighty. For-Profit Philanthropy offers a detailed roadmap to show how it can be accomplished.

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9780190074500

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Reviews

Brakman Reiser and Dean have written a 'Winners Take All' for readers who care about the details, who don't just want the big-picture story about how the world's wealthiest have greenwashed their giving (though they do deliver that story) but also readers who want to know where the policy levers are that could actually do something about it. Insight and lively, this book is a must-read for everyone who cares about the power of concentrated wealth. * Brian Galle, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center * I read For-Profit Philanthropy with great interest, as will anyone working in the non-profit or philanthropic sectors. It spotlights many individual changes over the past two decades and connects them in a way that reveals a sharply different funding landscape. An important and valuable book. * Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America *

Brakman Reiser and Dean have written a <'Winners Take All>' for readers who care about the details, who don't just want the big-picture story about how the world's wealthiest have greenwashed their giving (though they do deliver that story) but also readers who want to know where the policy levers are that could actually do something about it. Insight and lively, this book is a must-read for everyone who cares about the power of concentrated wealth. * Brian Galle, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center * I read For-Profit Philanthropy with great interest, as will anyone working in the non-profit or philanthropic sectors. It spotlights many individual changes over the past two decades and connects them in a way that reveals a sharply different funding landscape. An important and valuable book. * Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America *

Brakman Reiser and Dean have written a ‘Winners Take All’ for readers who care about the details, who don't just want the big-picture story about how the world's wealthiest have greenwashed their giving (though they do deliver that story) but also readers who want to know where the policy levers are that could actually do something about it. Insight and lively, this book is a must-read for everyone who cares about the power of concentrated wealth. * Brian Galle, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center * I read For-Profit Philanthropy with great interest, as will anyone working in the non-profit or philanthropic sectors. It spotlights many individual changes over the past two decades and connects them in a way that reveals a sharply different funding landscape. An important and valuable book. * Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America * This important book argues that the era of private philanthropic foundations is being replaced by a regime of what the authors somewhat misleadingly call for-profit philanthropy. * Choice *

Brakman Reiser and Dean have written a 'Winners Take All' for readers who care about the details, who don't just want the big-picture story about how the world's wealthiest have greenwashed their giving (though they do deliver that story) but also readers who want to know where the policy levers are that could actually do something about it. Insight and lively, this book is a must-read for everyone who cares about the power of concentrated wealth. -- Brian Galle, Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center I read For-Profit Philanthropy with great interest, as will anyone working in the non-profit or philanthropic sectors. It spotlights many individual changes over the past two decades and connects them in a way that reveals a sharply different funding landscape. An important and valuable book. -- Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO, New America

Author Information

Dana Brakman Reiser holds a chair as Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, where she also served as Vice Dean. Her globally recognized expertise in the law at the intersection of business and charity has made her a leading voice on charitable organizations diversifying their revenue streams and on business firms striving for corporate social responsibility. Steven A. Dean is Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of International Business Law at Brooklyn Law School, where he previously served as Vice Dean. He focuses on inequality both domestically and globally, with a particular focus on tax policy and anti-Black racism.

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